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(ModeL) J. HOFFMAN. Lead and Crayon Holder.

No. 235,150. Patented Dec. 7,1880.

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N PETERS. FHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER, WASHXNGJ'ON, D Cv 1 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE.

JOSEPH HOFFMAN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO JOSEPH REOKEN- DORFER,OF SAME PLACE.

LEAD AND CRAYON HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 235,150, dated December'7, 1880.

Application filed August 28, 18E0. (Model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOSEPH HOFFMAN, of the city, county, and State ofNew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lead andCrayon Holders, of which the following is a specification.

Myinvention relates to that kind oflead and crayon holder known as theautomatic, in which a pressure-cap longitudinally movable on rear of thehandle is used to move the appropriate portion of the holder against thestress of the retracting-spring, in order to release the hold of thejaws on the lead, as shown, for instance, in Letters Patent N 0.215,521, dated May 20,1557 9, and subsequently reissued November 18,1879, Nos. 8,967 and 8,968; and my invention consists in certain detailsof construction and arrangement hereinafter pointed out, which simplifythe fitting and joining together of the parts of the pencil, renderingsoldering unnecessary, and making a stronger and in some respects abetter holder.

In the accompanying drawings the holder represented is the ordinaryautomatic holder now in the market with my improvement attached.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal central section of the holder. Fig. 2 is aview of the lead tube or receiver, having on its rear end theconcaveconvex washer or disk by means of which it is joined to thepressure-cap. Fig. 3 is a like view of the tube with its pressure-capjoined to it, the cap being broken away in order to show the interiorconnection.

Ais the usual tubular case or handle, terminating at the front in thecontracted or tapering nozzle a.

B is the longitudinally-movable lead tube or receiver, with the usualjaws b at its front end.

0 is the pressure-cap, and D the retractingspring confined between thecap and the rear end of the handle, the rearward movement of thelead-tube, due to the action of the spring, being limited by the annularwasher 0 encircling the tube between the front end of the body of thehandle and the stud d on the tube,

"as shown and described in Letters Patent No.

218,267, dated August 5, 1879. The parts named are combined and operateas described in Letters Patent first-above recited.

My improvements relate, first, to the mounting of the retracting-spring,and, secondly, to the connecting of the cap and tube or other stem to beoperated by said cap.

It has been found necessary for various reasons-amon g others to preventthe parts from interfering and to avoid liability of the end of thespring next the handle entering the bore thereof-to provide a distinctbearing for said portion of the spring. This I do by mounting on thetube B a loose annular cup-shaped receiver, f, which rests, as shown, onthe rear or upper end of the handle, and receives within it the frontend of the spring, which is there confined and prevented from alllateral displacement or spread. The cup is attached neither to the tubenor the handle, butis held against the end of the latter by the stressof the compressed spring. This arrangement has been found to be not onlysimple and inexpensive, but most effective to prevent any difficultysuch as above alluded to.

To solder, or indeed otherwise rigidly attach, the cap to the tube hasbeen not only somewhat expensive, but has been productive of trouble inanother way. Those un acquainted with the mode of operation of theautomatic holder usually imagine that the lead is clamped or released,or in some way brought into and out of position, by the action of ascrew, and, failing to move the nozzle, they are very apt to attempt totwist or turn the cap at the other end of the handle, which, when thecap and tube are rigidly secured together, twists and strains the tube,and often injures not only it but also the lead which it contains,particularly if the lead happen to be grasped by the jaws. All thesedifficulties I remove by uniting the tube and the cap in such a way thatthe latter may be rotated independently of the tube. I mount on the rearof the tube a concavo-convex washer, g, which is securedthere on byswagin g or upsetting the end of the tube, as shown in Fig. 2. This endof the tube is then inserted into the cap so as to be against the headof the latter, there being formed in the cap an annular internal ofisetor groove, h,

opposite the point to which the washer 9 comes. I The latter is then, bysuitable tools, flattened or spread out to the form of a tiat disk. thecircular exterior edge of which enters and engages the groove, as shownin Fig. 3. By this means the cap and tube must move togetherlongitudinally, while at the same time the cap is free to turn orrevolve without imparting such movement to the tube. The spring,inasmuch as it rests at one end in the cup-bearing piecefand at theother end bears against the disk g, will likewise be practicallyuninfluenced by rotary motion of the cap.

It will, of course, be understood that the cap may be thus united to anylongitudinallymoving stem which it is to operate, in order to close thejaws upon or release them from the lead.

In putting together the parts of the holder, after the cap is joined tothe tube, as shown in Fig. 3, the spring: is slipped on the tube backinto the cap. The loose cup-bearing f is then put on the tube, thespringbeing thus between said cap and the cap. The tube is theninserted, jaw end foremost, into the handle from the rear. ()ver itsprotruding front end is then passed the washer e, which is pressed backto the rear of the stud or lip d on the tube. The said lip is thenraised by a suitable tool, and the parts are held tirmly in position.All that remains to do is to fit and l secure on the handle the nozzle11. and the holder is complete.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with the handle, the longitudiually-movable tubeorstem, the press are-cap, and the retracting-spring, of the loosecup-bearing: piece encircling said tube or stem, interposed between thehandle and the spring, and receiving the front end of said spring, asand for the purposes set forth.

2. The pressure-capand longitudinally-movable tube or stem, connected byan annular washer or flange on the tube, which enters a corresponding,annular groove in the interior of the cap, whereby the cap maybe free toturn or rotate without imparting movement to the tube.

3. The combination, with the handle and the tube or stem, of thepressure-cap, united with the tube by a flange-and -groove connection,as described, and the retracting-spring inclosed within the cap, andhaving its hearing at. one end in the cup-bearingpieee and at the otherend against the flange of the tube, as herein shown and set forth.

4. in a lead and crayon holder, the combination, substantially as setforth, with the handle or case and the IongitudinalIy-movable tube orstem which operates the lead-holding jaws, of the pressure-cap swiveledto the said stem, so that it may rotate independently thereof.

In testimony whereofI have hereunto set my hand this 20th day of August,A. I). 1880.

JOSEPH HOFFMAN.

Witnesses:

U. S. BRAISTED, Jon W. SWAINE.

